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An Unbroken Lineage. the Sentinelese Bloodline is 60,000 Years Long

cover the Jarawa Tribe of the Andaman Islands

An Unbroken Lineage
written & edited by Kendall F. Person

In a world unlike ours, they wear no fancy clothes and have never heard of cars. Their homes are barely shelters, perhaps leaves held up by bamboo, providing little if any cover. They dance along the beach, until all hours of the night, rituals and celebrations are just their way of welcoming the night. When the sun slides across the moon, and the daylight takes its turn, they retreat into the jungle. where no one not like them, has dared to ever tread. Savages, has long been how they are referred, and because they have black skin, more than likely worse, but the mongers will never tell. A few photographs prove they exist, and a caring nation assures they are not extinct. No matter what picture the civilized world decides to paint, the people of North Sentinel Island have proven they are no cowards and their way of living is a choice, not a random, natural mistake.

Art by Daniel Chou

In the Bay of Bengal, off the tip of India’s shores, lies the Andaman Islands, an archipelago combined with the Nicobar Islands, that remains an Indian territory. Undiscovered, vast and naturally beautiful, making it a unique region, scarcely matched anywhere else on Mother Earth. But a tiny, speck of an island, 25 miles off India’s territorial shores, sits a nation so small, who but the Sentinelese would ever call it home.

photo: Indian Coast Guard

A mere 27.8 square miles, (72 km) North Sentinel Island is just a tad bit larger than the entire city of Providence, Rhode Island. The indigenous population, known formally as the Sentinelese, have ruled this tiny nation, for more than 60,000 years. Ancestors arrived from Africa, on a voyage to a new world, somehow finding paradise and making their claim to their own little world. The descendants have remained unchanged, from their height to their hair, and their ebony colored skin. If the homogeneous colony were not rare enough, they have made no advancements, living the exact same way, hunting and gathering, content with a devout pureness, oblivious to the techno savvy world.

However, the outside world was not content without having the tiny speck. So they staked a claim, under the guise of righteousness, by falsely claiming they were less than human and needed some help.

First contact proved disastrous. Storming the island, kidnapping a portion of the clan, then taking the captives on a voyage to a scary and mysterious land. A violent illness quickly sickened the adults, as they were introduced to diseases they had developed no immunity to fight. Yet, civility would make an appearance, sparing the last uncontacted tribe from complete annihilation The Indian Government would order the stronger children to be returned home, leaving the weak and sickened adults to die, alone and afraid in a world that made no sense. The deaths to the adults, would sear deep into the hearts and souls of the Sentinelese people, who would use, what we would call, primitive markings, to denote in their history, as the time and place, the outside world had declared war.

Taj Mahal

Peace would remain for a few years, allowing the Sentinelese to retreat into the forests, governing a country, not quite like ours. The nation of India would force their control, announcing that North Sentinel belonged to them, and with a profound sense of grace, allowed the Sentinelese to remain independent and governors of their own fate.

In early February 2006, a boat containing two drunken fisherman, was picked up by ocean swells, drifted through the protective zone, crashing into the island itself. Loin cloths covering their groin, long spears grasped in their hands, the Sentinelese men, now an army, numbering between 15 – 100, charged out of the jungle, primitive some say, they were actually soldiers, protecting their women, children and their nations’ shores.

photo: India Navy

A helicopter arrived some days later, to search for the bodies of the fishermen to take back to their countries, so their families could lay them to rest. But under the swelter of an Indian Ocean sky, this time, it was the Sentinelese army, that struck the first blow. Hurling spears at the strange machine. that flew in the sky, shouting with threatening gestures, using all the weapons in their arsenal, but in reality, they are a tender but helpless people, for even against a single helicopter, they would have never stood a chance.

Taken like lambs once before, decimating their already small numbers, this brave group of human beings, perhaps direct descendants of Adam or Eve, who trace their lineage through a single, straight line, for thousands of generations, made a vow, that if the intruders ever came again, they would fight to the death, then be captured and made into one of them.

i dont think so ,in the world where no want to leave a bit of land for anyone,and this is a whole big awesum paradise ,how come it remained unexplored ,or unconquered ,how come the imperialist leave is island unconcured ,i mean come,on they are ferociuos they are voilent ,they wont allow intruders ,these are ol damn excuses, hey what happens with bow and arrow and spears ,come,on guys ,and what the hell are the africans doin between the indians and thailands ,and come on no one from eithers side ever tried goin there ,hey guys this is the picture on the packet ,there is something else in the packet

I was wondering why their skin color hasn’t changed even though they are in different climate
for thousands of years. After migrations skin color of Europeans(white), Indians(brown) changed, why not Sentinelese?

I’m also wondering if inbreeding has any negative effects on these people.

The climate where they live, is not much different than where they originated, No one knows exactly how many people live on the island, and how their society functions. Thank you for your questions although I do not have the answers. Hence, they are truly a uncontacted tribe.

What an incredibly impactful story – one I’d never heard about before. I hope these people survive the intrusion of the modern world. My apologies for not responding to your kind follow of my blog – I’ve been deep in rewrites. Thank you so much – and for teaching me about something I was unaware of!

It is said, if the lions were able to tell their side of the story, then the whole picture of the hunter being a hero would not be what we know! I am certain this community, african as many would claim- but indian by all definitions, would have their own story to tell if they had an opportunity. The writer of this article so interesting should go further to research and obtain their own impression of the world that is an enemy to their own life, culture and reasoning!

Otherwise, many salutes for this revelation i would call it!
Caleb Khisa

Thank you for following my blog. Very creative blog you have. This article is especially interesting.It’s a shame for us that we know so little about them; but more than likely a blessing for them.Great Photos!

Thank you for following my blog! Appreciation always encourages a new blogger. It’s been just a few months that I started blogging frequently. And had you not followed probably I wouldn’t have come across your blog this easily. I read this article of yours and it’s a wonderful and poignant read. We so often tend to forget the presence of parallel worlds. It’s also good to find that the read is still making rounds among the public, though it was posted 2 years ago. I’ll look forward to your newer posts. Keep writing!

Reblogged this on creatortruthlove and commented:
The problem with human mentality is that they are not ready to except the fact with logical prof. There is no doubt that human has started his evolution from Africa. Indians are not even aware of Sentinilese. If you can put some more detail about the behaviour of government with this tribe it will quite appreciative.

For 60,000 years their attuned lifestyle has sustained them and their environment…and those from ‘this paradise’ outside really believe they know better what is good for them?

“They’re happy. They love. We can’t have that!. Send ’em to school. Teach them to rite and spell our way. Stab ’em with toxins. Fluoridate ’em, mercury-ise ’em; drench them in electro-magnetics.”

Their lives are authentic. Ours are toxic and terrorised; rampant with brain-washing; illusions and delusions taught as real and necessary. Nature is dying all around us but we just carry on regardless.

It’s we, us, individually, that need to change for the much better; not a people that have an obvious wisdom far superior to our own.

Personally, I would rather leave this planet in the same condition as North Sentinel Island than the one that they are going to inherit, but that’s me.

Thank you for this beautifully written and meaningful acknowledgement of a humanity that we all once were…and still perhaps might be.

Thank you for visiting my blog. If you hadn’t – I likely would never have discovered yours and that would have been a shame. “An Unbroken Lineage” speaks to one of the many things that concerns me (the abuse of indigenous cultures) – which I have not written about on my own blog. You did a lovely job with it. I look forward to more!

Through all of time there have been storytellers chronicling the pulse of life. I feel that pulse in the writing about this glorious people group. I feel privileged to have found your work. Thank you for sharing your heart’s passions and storytelling gift.

I think it is amazing that the Sentinelese have managed to live for so long in peaceful isolation. You did great research on this post.
However, I also think it’s time the Sentinelese broke out of their cocoons and embrassed a much bigger world.
We can help them achieve this through a peaceful, empathetic and well guided integration programme.
While tradition should be forever treasured, it is clear that the Sentinelese stand to gain a lot should such an integration programme be succeful: modern education, better healthcare, modern housing and acquiring a global perspective are just but a few that come to mind.
It is truly regrettable that early interactions with the Sentinelese have been unpleasant, to say the least, and I hope the Indian government and people are ready and willing to mend relations with their newly found brothers.

Thank you for adding your thoughtful and considerate voice to this forum. All thoughts, ideas and opinions are very much appreciate as in The Neighborhood we seek to teach and to learn. May I suggest rereading this piece. Let me know when you have, and I will reply to your comments then.

The whole point of the post is to affirm the beauty of the people of the island as they are. LET THEM BE! We don’t need anyone, especially , Christian missionaries to come and ‘civilise’ them or make them modern. We have seen the effect of such modernisation in our North-East in India, and of course much of beautiful, pristine Africa destroyed by so-called modernity disguised under colonialisation.
You convert them, corrupt them, destroy their roots and leave them with nothing to go back to.
‘Things Fall Apart’ by Chinua Achebe is what you people do with your selfish, materialistic proposals. Keep off

Knowing Jesus is infinitely more important than ethnic lineage or cultural preservation. I’m *not* talking about trying to “civilize” them in the sense you’re using that word. I’m talking about introducing them to Jesus.

In this day and age to even think that the Almighty can be restricted to a single religion and a single ‘messiah’ just reveals ignorance.
Jesus is a rockstar and I love Him though I am not a Christian!! However wish Christians had the same mentality to respect and honour OTHER, EQUALLLY (if not more ) VALID pathways to God.

“they were less than human and needed some help.” Gosh, so much havoc has been wrecked upon the planet with that one concluding belief.

Thank you for the follow, because it lead me to your website. I look so forward to reading your articles here, and I hold tight to the belief that there must always remain “Uncontacted Tribes.” for there to be true civilization.